Three Rivers native among crash victims

A Three Rivers native was among seven Americans killed Monday in a cargo plane crash near an Air Force base in Afghanistan.

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By From staff and wire reports

Sturgis Journal - Sturgis, MI

By From staff and wire reports

Posted Apr. 30, 2013 at 8:55 PM
Updated Apr 30, 2013 at 8:59 PM

By From staff and wire reports

Posted Apr 30, 2013 at 8:55 PM
Updated Apr 30, 2013 at 8:59 PM

A Three Rivers native was among seven Americans killed Monday in a cargo plane crash near an Air Force base in Afghanistan.

First Officer Jamie Brokaw, of Monroe and a 1998 Three Rivers High School graduate, was among six people from Michigan killed, along with one person from Kentucky.

A friend of Brokaw described him as an experienced navigator who performed well under pressure.

"He was a very good person and very smart person," Chris Connerton told The Associated Press Tuesday by telephone from Rochester, Minn.

Connerton credited Brokaw with helping get him through flight school, as well as a harrowing flight two years ago from Toledo, Ohio, to an international flight expo in Lakeland, Fla. Connerton said ice had built up on the plane to the point that he could no longer get it to climb.

"If it wasn't for Jamie's navigation and know-how ... we wouldn't have made it," Connerton said. "I don't know that I would have had the capacity to handle the situation on my own."

Also killed in Monday's crash were pilots Brad Hasler of Trenton and Jeremy Lipka of Brooklyn; First Officer Rinku Summan of Canton; loadmaster Michael Sheets of Ypsilanti; and maintenance crew Gary Stockdale of Romulus and Timothy Garrett of Louisville, Ky.

As loadmaster, Sheets was responsible for making sure the weight and balance of the cargo was appropriate.

The Dubai-bound Boeing 747-400 was operated by National Air Cargo and crashed just after takeoff Monday from Bagram Air Base around 11:20 a.m. local time, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement Tuesday.

The accident site is within the perimeter of Bagram Air Base.

The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for downing the plane, but NATO said later the claims were false, and there was no sign of insurgent activity in the area at the time of the crash.

The Afghanistan Ministry of Transportation and Commercial Aviation is leading the investigation. The NTSB is investigating the crash alongside the ministry. The team will be composed of three NTSB investigators, as well as representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, the NTSB said.

National Air Cargo Vice President Shirley Kaufman said the plane — owned by National Airlines, an Orlando, Florida-based subsidiary of National Air Cargo — was carrying vehicles and other cargo.

Connerton said he met Brokaw at a flight school in Jacksonville, Fla., and considered him one of his closest friends. Connerton described Brokaw as "the kind of guy everyone wanted to be."

"He'd do anything he can to help you," Connerton said. "I don't think I've met one person in my life who doesn't like him."

Bill Hasler said in a statement Tuesday that his family learned Monday morning that his brother, Brad, was one of the crash victims.

Page 2 of 2 - "Brad was a wonderful father to two young children, a beloved husband to a wife who is expecting another child, a loving son, and the most loyal and supportive brother I could have ever asked for," Bill Hasler said. "His influence in the lives of all of us who loved him is immeasurable, and our grief is indescribable."

National Airlines was based until recently at Michigan's Willow Run Airport, west of Detroit. It carries cargo both commercially and for the military, Kaufman said. She said the company employs about 225 people.